We're On The Road Again

Wednesday 6 December

Our first morning on tour again, and its surprising how quickly we got back in the groove – early morning alarm, packing cases, breakfast with one eye on the clock, meet the group in the lobby. Alan, our new tour director – New Zealander, late forties, quiet disposition, organized and efficient so far – checked the luggage against names on his schedule, and did a total count of cases and bags – hopefully this means that we will not lose anyone’s luggage on this trip. Darryl is our new driver – mid 40’s, good looking, but not out-going at all – haven’t heard him speak yet.

Although not on the itinerary, we started with a short tour of Auckland, the largest city by far in New Zealand, with a population of 1.1 million (next cities are Wellington and Christchurch both with about 350,000 people). Auckland has a large percentage of Asians and Polynesians, who were encouraged by the new Labour Government in the mid 1990’s, to come to New Zealand. Auckland receives about 65 ins of rainfall per annum and is said to have a sub-tropical climate – no frosts and no wet or dry season – rainfall falls evenly throughout the year (we were told by a New Zealander that it rains every day in Auckland!)

As we found yesterday, there is not a lot to see in the inner city – the railway station, now underground, was moved 1 km in towards the centre, because people were not willing to walk the extra distance into work from the station – it was easier to use their cars door to door – but it has been more successful since the multi-million dollar relocation. There is a huge university on the hills leading out of town, with lots of the surrounding older buildings being converted to student accommodation. There is a new Anglican Cathedral – Holy Trinity - at the top of the hill, overlooking one side of the city. It was built to replace the smaller wooden building which had stood on the other side of the road (looks exactly like an old American clapboard church in films, with pitched roof and small square spire with a cross on the top), which should have been demolished when the new Cathedral was complete. The people of Auckland protested so much, it was agreed to keep the wooden building. But the Church wanted to sell the land it was on, so they put the old wooden church on rollers and rolled it across the road to stand next to the new Cathedral and proceeded with the sale. There is also a plaque by a pond to commemorate the release of the first trout into New Zealand rivers – it was brought over from California about one hundred years ago – I said they were short of sights.

As an aside – it is an offence to buy trout in New Zealand, the only way to eat it, is to catch it yourself – for which you need a license – even though rainbow trout and brown trout are abundant in the rivers and streams nowadays. Up till ten years ago, it was also an offence to drink alcohol in a public place, so when this law was relaxed, many suburbs redeveloped shops and large old houses to include pavement cafes and open air restaurants, which have now become very popular.

Our first photo stop was at Mount Eden, the largest of about sixty peaks in and around Auckland that have resulted from earlier volcanic action. These are now extinct and many have been mined and mostly disappeared. From the top of this mount, there was a wonderful view through 360 degrees of Auckland, taking in the two harbours – one on each side of the city - each with different tidal times. Auckland appears to be built across an isthmus, with bridges connecting it to a nearby island – and has about forty suburbs in total. The city was named by the first Governor of the area, Captain Hobson, of the Royal Navy, who honoured his benefactor, Lord Auckland, by naming the city after him and Mount Eden after the family name of Lord Auckland.

Our journey continued on out into the rolling hills and country to the south of the city, much of which has spiritual significance to the Maoris – the indigenous people of New Zealand. Many of the hills had at one time been settled on by these tribes, or tribal battles had been fought there. They then became sacred areas. One such hill was a burial ground for local Maoris and the Queen of the Maoris who died earlier this year is buried at the top here (the more important you are the nearer the top of the hill you are buried).

There was one hill called One Tree Hill, but there was no tree to be seen. Apparently there had been a Christmas tree (boudakawa?) – with red flowers and native to New Zealand – which was vandalized in the 1880s and couldn’t be saved. After World War I a pine tree was planted from seeds brought from Gallipoli, but ten years ago, a Maori cut this tree down, as he felt the tree was not in keeping with the Maori culture. Since this time there have been disputes between the various tribal leaders who have title for the area, and the Government, so no further trees have been successfully planted. There is a monument on the top of the hill erected by John Logie Campbell, the mayor, to commemorate the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall at the end of the 1880’s, which still stands.

We continued through green undulating countryside, with cows and sheep roaming the fields (much smaller fields than in Australia, but with much more grass), till we reached the Waitomo Caves which have been shaped over the past 24 million years by faulting, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Cracks and joints separating the huge blocks allowed water to flow between them, gradually dissolving the limestone and carving out the caves. Inside the caves stalactites and stalagmites began to form as water dripped from the roof to the floor or flowed over the walls and rocks, leaving deposits of crystalline calcium carbonate – it takes about 100 years for 1 cubic centimetre of stalactite to form.

The local Maoris had known of the existence of the caves for a long time, but it was not until 1887 when Fred Mace, an English surveyor, persuaded the local tribal Chief, Tane Tinorau, to explore the caves with him, that they became known to the outside world. The two men floated on rafts of flax stems with just candles for light, and found a multitude of glowworm lights covering the limestone formations. The caves were fully mapped over the next two years, before opening to visitors in 1889. Many of the people employed at this centre are direct descendants of Chief Tanu Tinorau.

We were taken underground, along passages and down steps – lit only by very subdued lighting – passing through small openings with low ceilings into larger caves where we could see the limestone formations hanging from the ceiling or rising from the floor, until we reached the “Cathedral”, the tallest part of the cave system at 15 metres high – the roof is about 45 metres from the ground above. We stared in awe at the size of the cave and the different shapes of the ‘sculptures’ there. The temperature is a constant 16 degrees C, but drips often found their way down the back of your neck, making you shiver. We were then taken further dow, to a platform where we had to crouch down. Our guide switched on a light and we could see “lines” that looked like thick cobwebs hanging from the ceiling of the cave below, that are put down by glowworms to catch their prey – mosquitos, sand flies and other insects that fly in the caves, see the lights of the glowworms and get caught in these “lines”.

We then retraced our way back through the Cathedral and down another dark corridor to await the arrival of a boat. In the dim light we stepped aboard a large “rowing boat” seating about twenty in rows of four. The guide extinguished all the lights and in the darkness the ceilings and walls were lit with millions of pin-prick sized lights – like clusters of minute stars you see in the sky sometimes. We had to be very quiet and no photography was allowed. But we gazed upwards and sidewards amazed at all these little creatures living inside these caves.

The female fly lays about 120 round eggs, and after 20 days the young larvae hatch and build a nest, putting down “lines and feed. Sticky substances on the “lines” trap any insects which are drawn up and devoured. Even when very small – less than 3 mm – the larvae emit a visible light, but slowly over the next 9 months they grow to the size of a matchstick. The pupa is the same as the cocoon stage of a butterfly – the stage in between larva and adult fly. This will last about 13 days with the pupa suspended by a thread. The adult, a two winged fly looks like a mosquito – they have no mouth and their only function is to reproduce and disperse the species. Usually a male is waiting for the female to emerge from the pupa and mating takes place immediately and the cycle continues. Adults only live three to four days at most (they cannot feed). It is only at the larva stage that the fly gives off light. At this stage it needs humidity to prevent it drying out, a sheltered surface from which to hang and suspend its “sticky lines”, a calm atmosphere to prevent the lines tangling, darkness to allow its light to attract food and a plentiful supply of insects to eat. These caves provide ideal conditions for the glowworms to thrive. On re-entering into the sunshine, we pondered on what is the purpose of a glowworm, but wondered at its ability to light huge caves with its light,

It was now time for lunch and we were taken to Otorohanga, a town very similar to those we had visited in Australia – long linear settlement, with lots of cafes and souvenir shops, even a couple of barbers and this time, an electrical shop. The café was expecting us and we were all promptly served and on our way again within less than an hour.

Our objective today was Rotorua – I remembered learning all about the hot springs and geysers here in geography lessons with Miss Whittaker many moons ago – and it seemed remarkable that tomorrow we were going to actually see them first hand. Our first impression of Rotorua was that it was a sprawling, fairly modern, bustly town, built along the edge of a large lake with lots of small businesses and industry around the outskirts. Our first smell was the sulphur, coming from the waters around here – a bit like bad eggs, especially when the wind is in your direction, but we are told you get used to it. We were dropped off at our hotel and had just a short time to receive our luggage and get back to reception for our final visit of the day – to the Tamaki Maori village.

We walked a couple of blocks down the road to a cultural centre for the Tamaki tribe, and were welcomed by a warrior who led us through a door, into a very black corridor - chanting all the time – and up to a small theatre. An older lady and young girl acted out the story of the beliefs of the tribe – how man was the most important thing to them, and how they must look after each other from generation to generation, and maintain the life and customs of the Maoris. We traveled from one theatre to another, through a rain forest garden, where we were given samples of chutneys on cubes of bread to taste, made from ingredients the Maoris would have found when they first arrived here in 1348. These were similar to relishes we eat at home, but simply made with interesting ingredients. We continued on to another theatre where the two performers were joined by the first man to complete their story and sing songs. We all had to perform the “hongi” (pressing of noses twice) to say “goodbye”.

We then got on an old bone-shaker coach to the actual Tamaki village which has been built to represent the life of the Maoris before the Europeans arrived. Before we got off the coach we had to elect a leader, and Ray, a man traveling with his wife and two teenage sons from Brisbane, was chosen. He led us to the entrance of the village and we all awaited the arrival of the tribal chief and elders. One warrior appeared over the gateway, chanting at the top of his voice, trying to warn us away. Others joined him on the ground gamboling around shouting and threatening us with Taiahas – spear-like weapons – poking out their tongues and making their eyes big round dark orbs in a large area of white – all quite scary. A peace offering in the form of a ‘sliver fern’ leaf (the emblem of New Zealand) - dark green on one side and silvery green on the other – was placed on the floor in front of our chief. He had to decide whether he was coming in peace – when he would pick up the token – or was hostile – when he would leave the talisman on the floor. Ray picked up the leaf and the warriors welcomed us with further chanting and dancing before we all followed Ray and the warriors into the settlement where several other Maoris were performing old crafts - such as weaving, carving, dancing and chanting, throwing four short sticks between two people and women with two pom-poms on strings which they juggled around and beat on the backs of their hands in time to music. We wandered around the displays, each performed in front of a sleeping hut, with a wood fire in a pit in front, before we were called to a concert. The theatre here was set in a large hall – the meeting house of the tribe - with intricate carvings and totem pole type decorations around the outside. All the Maoris sang, played musical instruments and danced to us, in traditional ways, each telling a story. They were all dressed in costumes reminiscent of the early years, the wormen in dried flax skirts, which looked and sounded like they had been made from long macaroni strands. All the Maoris had ancient patterns either tattooed or transferred on their chins, arms and legs.

It was then time to eat. To cook their food traditionally, they must first dig a pit and build up a wooden frame inside, inside which they place large volcanic stones. These are heated by lighting the wood which burns hot and when the stones are white, they are ready to begin cooking. Food is wrapped (in foil these days, but in flaxen baskets in olden times) and placed on the stones, meat on the lowest level as it takes longest to cook, followed by fish, vegetables and breads and puddings. It is all covered with hessian and then the soil that was removed when digging the pit is put back over the cooking area and left for about four hours till the food is tender. Our food was cooked in conventional ovens tonight – what a shame. The meal – known as a “hangi” - was blessed with a traditional prayer before we were invited to serve ourselves from the buffet. The food was all very tasty, even if the combination was a bit odd – salads, coleslaw, potatoes, kumoras (like potatoes but with a smoky flavour), and vegetables, with mussels, chicken and stuffing, and lamb accompanied by mint and cranberry sauce, and gravy. Desserts included pavlova (of course), but also steamed pudding with a huge vat of custard – Colin was in his element, especially as he had a large portion of the skin! Uggh! – and fruit salad. When we had all finished we wandered around outside while they cleared the tables, then it was back for more traditional songs – some of the tunes we recognized (the Hawaiian song from the Elvis Presley film was one) – and a Hakka – like that chanted by the All Blacks before their matches.

It was then time to climb back in the coach – the seats were so narrow, some of the larger travelers could hardly fit in – and returned to the hotel. We were invited to sing national songs representative of all the nationalities on board.

Everyone was feeling quite worn out by the time we got back, it had been a busy first day of the tour, and we are promised more of the same tomorrow, when we further explore Rotorua.